Young Leaders for Mandela Washington Fellowship |18 April 2016
Five young Seychellois leaders selected
Mervin Pool, Aaron Bonnelame, Fabianna Bonne, Karine Rassol and Vanessa Telemaque are the five young Seychellois who have been selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship for young African leaders, which will begin on June 10, 2016.
The candidates’ names were revealed at a small ceremony at the Augerine Hotel at Beau Vallon last week.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship African Leaders, which started in 2014, is the flagship of President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) that empowers young people through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking. The fellowship will provide the young leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa with the opportunity to hone their skills at a U.S. higher education institution with support for professional development after they return home.
The fellowship will take place from June 10 to July 28 and will culminate with the Presidential Summit in Washington D.C.
The five young leaders, who are aged between 26 and 34 years, have made accomplishments in promoting innovation and positive change in their organisations, institutions, communities and countries.
The Seychellois candidates’ names were officially announced by NCIS agent Jennifer Cartaino.
“It was very difficult to narrow it down to only five finalists. The Young African Leaders Initiative or YALI as we call it was designed to support Africans as they spur economic growth, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across the continent,” she said.
“This year the programme has grown from 500 to 1,000 fellows from across Africa. Mandela fellows attend the US universities for six-week academic and leadership institute in one of three areas: business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership and public management. Coursework and training in each of these sectors focus on the skills young African leaders will need to run better ministries, start and grow business, and serve their communities,” she added.
She concluded by pointing out that the US embassy firmly believes that Seychelles’s success is good for both nations, and that success depends so much on these young people.
Mervin Pool from Praslin, 34 years old, is a dynamic youth activist pioneering the concept of social entrepreneurship in Seychelles. He will be undertaking the business and entrepreneurship programme.
Aaron Bonnelame, 31 from Anse Royale, is an IT Technician and the representative of the Seychelles National Party (SNP) for the Anse Royale district. He will be undertaking the public management programme.
Fabianna Bonne, 27, resides in Perseverance two and is Seychelles’ leading activist for LGBTI equality and an outspoken advocate for worker’s right in the public workforce. She will be undertaking the civil leadership programme.
Karine Rasool, the youngest of the group at 26 and from Beau Vallon, is a part-time lecturer at the University of Seychelles, and a founding member of the NGO SYAH (Sids Youth AIMS Hub Seychelles). She will be undertaking the public management programme.
Vanessa Telemaque, 28 years old, is a full-time medical officer at the Ministry of Health. She graduated from Melaka Manipal Medical College in India in 2012. She will be undertaking the public management programme.
Present at the event were parents of the five candidates, as well as fellows who took part in the programme in the past years.
Since the programme launch in 2014, five Seychellois leaders have successfully taken part in the Young Leaders for Mandela Washington Fellowship and this year’s group will be the biggest.